1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a lightweight portable vacuum cleaner which may be readily carried by the operator. In addition, a specific attachment nozzle is utilized with this vacuum cleaner to further facilitate its flexibility of operation.
In cleaning large office buildings a number of cleaning crews are used which clean the offices after regular business hours. To increase the efficiency of the crews, vacuum cleaners that are highly portable and lightweight are needed so that crews can move from one office to another quickly. Conventional vacuum cleaners which are mounted on rollers or casters have proved cumbersome because of their weight and lack of maneuverability when cleaning a cluttered office. In addition, many areas prove inaccessible to these vacuum cleaners because of their weight and bulkiness, thereby preventing a thorough vacuuming job.
Specific features that can be built into such vacuum cleaners include the use of transparent suction tubes, as illustrated by Cannan, U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,729, and using the exhaust of a vacuum cleaner for delivering foam to the surface to be cleaned, as illustrated by Crener, U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,240.
The attachment nozzles through which the vacuum is applied to the surface to be cleaned have also proven to be clumsy. Attachment nozzles are coupled to the suction tube of a vacuum cleaner and are placed in contact with the surface to be cleaned thereby applying suction to the surface. The attachment nozzles have slots through which the vacuum is applied and these slots are oriented so as to be perpendicular or lateral to the orientation of the suction tube. The operator controls the placement of the attachment nozzle, and thereby the application of the vacuum, by controlling the movement of the suction tube to which the nozzle is coupled. As such, the perpendicular orientation of the slots dictates that the operator must push and pull the vacuum forward and backward to achieve the maximum vacummed area. Casters and wheels, and even the weighting of the attachment and suction tube further dictate this push and pull movement.
Attachment nozzles has been adapted to facilitate various operations. Swanson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 2,862,224, uses a magnet mounted on a floor surfacing machine to pick up steel particles located on the floor. Scraper brushes have been attached to the attachment nozzles for scraping or moving rug pile so to better effectuate vacuuming. Such devices are illustrated by Riebel, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 1,990,710, Ego, U.S. Pat. No. 2,879,430, Martinec, U.S. Pat. No. 2,893,048, Jepson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,203,023, and Cyphert, U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,218.
The present invention overcomes the above-presented problems by disclosing a operator-carried vacuum cleaner to which is coupled an attachment nozzle specifically adapted for side-to-side movement. The nozzle is light and can be used to readily service normally inaccessible areas. In addition, the nozzle is provided with prongs for dislodging articles entrained in carpeting; and a magnet for picking up metal articles present on the vacuumed surface.